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When Santa Was a Boy & Santa Uses His Noggin books

My Sarah (4) loves a good book. And like all kids, she loves all things Christmas too so she was delighted when Colin Deeny’s books arrived in the post. In fact she couldn’t wait for bed time until we tucked up and got stuck in to them.

Let me fill you in on the two books we received. The first is called Nicholas – When Santa Was a Boy and the second is Nicholas – Santa uses his Noggin, which are the first three in a trilogy from Deeny. The books, beautifully illustrated by Martin Beckett, tell the story of a young boy called Nicholas who grew up to be Santa Claus. “I’ve always wondered how Santa became Santa,” said Sarah to me when we were curled up reading the first book.

The first book in the trilogy, Nicholas – When Santa Was a Boy, tells the story of Nicholas, from the North Pole of course, who attempts to become friends with some elves. There was no white beard at the time or no Rudolph but together Nicholas and the elves learn how to make toys, shove themselves down chimneys and steer a sleigh over the mountains. It’s their first ever Christmas adventure and the new acquaintances make the local children very happy indeed.

Nicholas – Santa Uses His Noggin

The second book, Nicholas – Santa uses his Noggin has, in fact, got nothing to do with Santa using his brains as I first thought! It’s about Santa and the elves twelve months on. The elves have been in hibernation for months and not a toy has been made for the children for Christmas. This time around Nicholas also has a special present for the elves but cantankerous elf Rupert (who Sarah thought was a howl by the way!) may not get one if he doesn’t prove he can kind..

With Christmas on the horizon these books would be perfect in the run up to the big day. From reading them I’d say they would suit kids ranging in age from three up to about 9 or a bit older. Sarah gave them a big thumbs up anyway.